In Lithuania there is no sport more popular than basketball. A tiny country in which there are fewer residents than in any of the districts of Moscow has become the homeland of a huge number of talented basketball players such as Arvydas Sabonis and many others. Not the last place in this row is Ramunas iškauskas, one of the best attacking defenders of European basketball in the 2000s. He was recognized as the most valuable player in the Euroleague of the season, became the champion of four countries and in all his clubs left only pleasant memories about himself.
Player Feature
Lithuanian basketball player is endowed with impressive physical parameters for an ordinary person, but the most standard for a basketball player. With a height of 198 cm, it weighs 100 kg.
Not being the highest among fellow craftsmen and having good speed and coordination, it was as if created for the position of an attacking defender or light forward.
It is quite difficult to call a person with a weight of 100 kg easy, but on the basketball court Ramunas iškauskas performed the duties of a mobile fast forward. BC CSKA clearly did not fail when he invited the Lithuanian to his ranks. He had a wonderful dribbling, easily beat any opponent one on one.
Easily seeping through the defensive redoubts of rivals to the ring, Ramunas Siskauskas could attack from a long distance if necessary. Few European basketball players had such a stable three-point shot. Moreover, a cold-blooded native of the Baltic states always turned on at the right time and brought a lot of points to the team in the decisive playoff matches.
Lithuanian period
In Lithuania, basketball is the same as football for Brazil. A little tall boy spends all his free time on a basketball court in the yard or at school. Then keen mentors have the opportunity to choose from a huge mass of potential stars the most promising and talented. About the same happened with Ramunas iškauskas.
He was born in the small town of Kaisiadorys in 1978. Ramunas received a full-fledged basketball education in independent Lithuania, in 1996 he became a player in the modest Sakalaya. However, for a couple of seasons, an incredibly apt and technical athlete was invited to the ranks of one of the flagship of Lithuanian basketball. Lietuvos Rytas was the first big club for iškauskas. It was with him that he won the Lithuanian championship twice, participated in the Euroleague for the first time in his life.
Wherever Ramunas played in the future, he always spoke warmly of Lietuvos Rytas, calling him his home and family.
Euroleague Star
In the prime of life and his sports career, Ramunas iškauskas finally outgrew the level of the Lithuanian championship and, without hesitation, accepted an invitation from a Western European club. The Italian “Benetton” impressed the Baltic with its clear organization, structure.
Ramunas instantly fit into the new club and became one of the most useful players. For the two years spent in the team, he managed to win the Italian championship, win the Cup of the country. Playing in the Euroleague matches, he established himself as one of the best lightweight forwards of continental club basketball.
Again, it's time to go up. This time, Ramunas iškauskas could not resist the offer of the Greek Panathinaikos. The Athens club has always been among the elite of European basketball, such as Barcelona in football, and for Ramunas it was an honor and at the same time a challenge to try their luck in the legendary team.
The Lithuanian basketball player spent only one season for Panathinaikos, but managed to win all possible titles. That year, the Athens club won the championship and the country's cup, and most importantly, won the Euroleague, where BC CSKA was defeated in the final.
Moscow life of Ramunas
It was the army team that became the longest place of work for the Lithuanian light forward. He moved to Moscow in 2007, where he spent the remaining years as an active basketball player. From the Panathinaikos, along with himself, the Lithuanian seemed to bring the real spirit of victory. In the first season with iškauskas, CSKA managed to win the Euroleague, in which Ramunas played a significant role.
A team player, Siskauskas possessed the qualities of a true leader. He was not afraid to take responsibility in the last seconds of the playoff decisive matches, and often it was the long-range shots of the cold-blooded Lithuanian who saved CSKA in the most hopeless situations. The most valuable Euroleague player of 2008 is an indicator of the degree of usefulness of Ramunas for CSKA of those years.
Sometimes victories alternate with defeats, there were difficult periods for the Moscow army, when there was a generational change in the team.
However, until 2012, a laconic and friendly guy from Kaisiadorys remained one of the leaders. CSKA arranged a magnificent departure for his player when he was finishing his career, and this was done at the match with Lietuvos Rytas - the first big club in iškauskas.